To commemorate the 68th anniversary of D-Day U.S. Special Operation Forces conducted a military free fall nearby one of Normandy’s most historic attractions.

Soldiers of the Special Operations Command Europe pride themselves as quiet professionals, but sometimes certain actions deserve special recognition. SSG Joe Labutka has more on a valor ceremony for several heroic men and their amazing deeds.

Imagine what the movie might look like though…working with a Special Forces Operational Detachment –Alpha (a bunch of Green Berets) and local Afghans running counterinsurgency missions in the heart of Taliban country. Sgt. Rodriguez-Torres, playing himself of course, is the head cook, in charge of preparing three daily feasts for at least 50 hungry warriors at a time (using anything available; turning it into a gourmet meal). On a fairly regular basis, however, he must also deal with Taliban fighters outside the perimeter, attempting to overrun the base and claim it as their own. The enemy is well equipped, with AK-47s, PKM machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and 107mm rockets.

Last week in Kaiserslautern, Germany, the Fort Benning Jumpmaster Mobile Training Team graduated 19 new jumpmasters. I was among the graduates and my head still hurts from memorizing pre-jump training, my nerves are still frayed from PWAC (Practical Work in the Aircraft) and my fingers are still healing from JMPI (Jumpmaster Personnel Inspection). If you’ve been to the course, you know exactly what I’m talking about!

The cold days of winter are fast approaching here in Germany.  Heck…they’re already here!  Man it's cold already!  For a lot of folks, it's good news because it also means that ski season has arrived as well.  One of the great perks about living in Southern Germany is that world class slopes are only a few hours away!  And this year, with Veterans Day falling smack in the middle of the work week, many families are taking advantage of an opportunity to get a 10-day vacation while missing only two school days.  You see, here in Stuttgart, kids were off school last Friday, Nov. 6 and they are off Nov 11-13 as well.  Count it up!